Goodbye Bad Boy, Hello Hero

May 04, 2008|By Rachel Abramowitz Los Angeles Times

To become a mega-movie star these days, a man must don the tights. With a few notable exceptions like Leonardo DiCaprio, who had the good fortune to be in the highest-grossing movie of all time (that would be "Titanic"), almost every $20-million man has done his time as a caped crusader, masked marvel or some popcorn equivalent, such as a pirate or extraterrestrial G-man.

Now it's Robert Downey Jr.'s turn.

The 43-year-old ex-junkie, ex-con, Oscar-nominated professional entertainer is renouncing his title as the talent most likely to disappoint, everyone's lovable screw-up, the walking cautionary-tale. He's assuming the mantle of "Iron Man," another in a long line of comic book renditions, which hit theaters May 1, kicking off the summer movie season.

Given Downey's years as a reigning wit, an unflappable, unpredictable screen presence, the thought of him soaring the skies in a red metal suit and bopping bad guys is a little depressing to someone over 25, except for Downey seeming so darn happy about it. Really, really happy. Relieved. Maybe even grateful.

He's about to barnstorm the world on a month long "Iron Man" tour, and he's genuinely thrilled. Finally, he's the headliner - the one with his mug on dolls and Slurpee cups. "It's feeling the support of the machine of the industry and all that behind you. You know, supporting what you busted your ass doing," he explains.

REDEMPTION

Life is finally good.

He's not dead. He's not on drugs. As recently as five years ago, Downey had to pay for his own insurance to even appear in a movie, and now a studio is banking a huge franchise on him, and the buzz-o-meter is off the charts. As Tony Stark, debonair super-nerd weapons tycoon turned superhero, he's playing a character who is essentially a PG-riff on his persona - he's decadent-lite, a self-indulgent high-flier who wakes up at age 40 and decides to do good. In the film, Stark is captured by guerrillas in Afghanistan, realizes how the arms he's been pushing for the last decades are creating more harm than good and develops a techno-suit that allows him to fly, shoot fire and escape his jail cave. It's an origin story, refashioned as a coming-of-middle-age saga - Stark sets out to atone for his life of sin - but will he be redeemed?

ART IMITATING LIFE, ANYONE?

Almost every movie star with a brain is professionally charming in an interview, but Downey's charm goes far beyond that. It appears wired into his DNA, an endearing need to be liked that coexists with a fierce desire not to care what anybody thinks. Antic deadpan is one of his modes. Teflon vulnerability is another. You have to spend only five minutes with the guy to understand why Hollywood stuck by him through his travails - it's a testament to his talent and innate likability.

When the cast of professional image-managers finally leaves the hotel suite, Downey sprawls out in a chair with balletic grace and downshifts into a thoughtful-philosophical-jazz monologuist mode. He's ready to professionally opine on himself as required by his role as atoning movie star. He smokes a cigar, perhaps his only remaining vice, and his innate restlessness is confined to fidgety opening and shutting a small silver suitcase that contains a cornucopia of vitamin supplements for his upcoming, multicontinent publicity tour.

CLIMBING BACK

Downey's sober re-ascension of Hollywood is a far cry from the guy who was once arrested while driving his Porsche down Sunset Boulevard naked, chucking phantom rats out the window. The years 1996 to 2000 flashed by in a blur of drug arrests and failed drug tests, capped by a year's stint in California state prison after he violated probation. He re-emerged in television's "Ally McBeal," won a Golden Globe and was fired after he tumbled off the wagon and was arrested for cocaine and methamphetamine possession.

After a year in rehab, he began rebuilding his career again, eventually nabbing more interesting movies such as "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang," "Good Night, and Good Luck," "Zodiac" and "Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus." Still, no one was thinking of him to top-line a would-be commercial juggernaut, and "Iron Man" didn't exactly drop in his lap.

"Much to my surprise, I really didn't fit any of the criteria for the kind of actor they thought they should cast," Downey says.

As it turned out, he brought along his bag of amusing tricks - upgrading the character's flip awareness - adding subtext and sizzle when there wasn't any.